The Pepperdine women’s golf team’s 2010-11 season teed off on the wrong side of the green shooting a 19-over in the first round of the NCAA Fall Preview on in Bryan Texas.
All 18 teams that participated are currently ranked in Golfweek’s preseason top 30 and fifteen of them placed in the top 25 at last year’s NCAA Championships.
Pepperdine was off to a rocky start on Monday with a score of 307 and although the Waves boosted their performance on Tuesday by four strokes they still managed only 15thplace by the end of the tournament. The Waves were able to step up their game and end with 1-over 289 on Wednesday making their third-round score superior to more than half of the teams at the tournament. This allowed the Waves with a total of 899 to pass Texas A & M Stanford and Tennessee in the final scores. Alabama with a score of 849 and LSU with a score of 850 finished in first and second place respectively.
Sophomore Danielle Kang won the 2010 U.S. Women’s Amateur Championship this summer. As the new season began she was in 30th place with a 2-over 74 on Monday. Kang and senior Taylore Karle both shot 2-over 74 on Tuesday. This was Kang’s second straight 74 which placed her in a tie for 34th place at 148. In Kang’s final round she was 3-under 69 showcasing a strong final round. This moved her up 15 spots into a tie for 19th. She finished with a 1-over 217 (74-74-69). It was Kang’s last round that helped the Waves bypass three teams and finish in 15th.
Karle led the Waves with three birdies on Monday. On Tuesday she advanced more than 10 spots after improving her score by four strokes. She was tied for 62nd at 152 (78-74) and then preceded to jump more than 10 spots again on Wednesday. Karle’s 1-over 73 gave her a total of 225 (78-74-73) and put her into a tie for 50th place at tournament’s end.
At the start of the tournament Karle senior Martine de Gannes and junior Kaitlin Drolson were all tied for 73rd place. Each of them shot a 78 on Monday and Kang Karle and de Gannes each recorded three birdies during their rounds on Tuesday.
Senior Martine de Gannes was tied for 70th place at 154 (78-76) after Monday’s results but lost her stride and finished with a tie for 87th place and a score of 239 (78-76-85).
Drolson matched Karle’s final round with a 73 of her own placing her in a tie for 73rd place at 230 (78-79-73).
Freshman Liv Cheng had a tie for 90th place at 165 (77-88) on Tuesday and finished the tournament in a tie for 89th with a score 240 (77-89-74).
The Waves next compete at the Golfweek Conference Challenge in Vail Colo. Sept. 26-28.